Faulty faucet floods Middletown courthouse

Published 5:28 pm, Monday, October 27, 2014

A room housed in the basement level of the Middletown Superior Court was gutted on Monday after unrestricted water flow over the weekend caused substantial damage.

A room housed in the basement level of the Middletown Superior Court was gutted on Monday after unrestricted water flow over the weekend caused substantial damage.

Photo: Kathleen Schassler — Middletown Press

Faulty faucet floods Middletown courthouse

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MIDDLETOWN >> A flood of water met employees that arrived Monday morning at the Middletown Superior Courthouse, after a possible equipment failure resulted in serious damage to parts of the building.

Though answers are still sought from work crews at the building, officials believe that a plastic spigot on a faucet in a second-level maintenance closet may have failed, according to Deputy Chief Clerk Jonathan Field.

“The facet apparently hadn’t been turned off at the wall,” Field said.

Since the failed unit did not direct water back into the sink, but instead was pointed at a wall, the resulting damage, after more than 48 hours of unrestricted flow throughout Saturday and Sunday, was substantial.

The spigot was “not designed to stop a major force of water” and the water “should have been turned off” using a valve on the wall, according to Field.

“Instead of flowing down the drain, it shot out into the room,” said Field.

The damage spread from the closet into two bathrooms on either side of the closet, traveling down through the walls, into the level one hallway and into courtroom 1A. The flow continued into a back hallway, into a secured area of the courthouse, Field said.

Substantial damage was seen at the basement level where crews continued to rip out damaged materials, including plasterboard. Two rooms on that level were completely gutted by 4 p.m. on Monday.

Early morning crews worked diligently to vacuum the flooded lobby prior to the start of the busy day. The lobby contained a “couple of inches of water” at 8 a.m., according to an employee at the information desk.